My knee hurts. Im trying to find a comfortable position to sit in but it's no use, the truck is too crowded with gear, props, bags... I shove a pillow under my left leg hoping it would help...

My knee hurts. Blew it a couple weeks ago, while straddling my tripod and bouncing around in the bed of my pick-up truck at 55 mph on a suburban highway... Filming... Never even knew I injured it badly until hours later... And been a cripple since. But I did get the shots!

My knee hurts...

"How's your knee feeling?" Jerry is driving today, and he got stuck with the loading of the heavy equipment, too.

"Peachy! Never better! Let's go swing dancing!!"

"Really?"

"No, not really. It hurts."

But to (once again) quote Johnny Callaway: "I'll be just fine!"

We're heading out to a shoot today. Destination? Eclectic Books, in Murietta, CA.

The goal?  To capture establishing shots of a bookstore, to be weaved in with our fake bookstore set shots, which we built a month and a half ago, inside my garage, for the Bettie scene (more on this soon). And we did a MIGHTY AWESOME job at it, if I may add . Now we will create an entire bookstore in the mind of the audience by showing the rest of the bookstore, including the front entrance, aisles of book shelves and the register area, complete, with customers, too.

ANOTHER DOS MIRACLE

I have been racking my brains for several months now, trying to figure out where to film the hot rod girl walking into a bookstore. The problem is, I don't know any bookstore owners. Heck, I don't even know any store owners, period. So it's not like I could disguise, say a model store into a bookstore for the shoot. I have been agonizing over this for a long time... But not losing Faith... Would God come through for me one more time? And how many miracles can one really expect? I have used all of mine for sure in the making of this phenomenal film. And have probably run out by now. Aero Books In Burbank volunteered their store, which was really nice of Tina, the owner. However, after scouting it, I found it did not look anything like my set and would create a disconnect in the audience mind: They would never buy it. ... What to do now?

Guess God is generous with his miracles because yet another one has just happened. Robert overheard someone mention during our recent wrap party we were desperate for a bookstore to film at and so he walks up to me and says: "Hey Faith, you need a bookstore?"

Me: "  YES! Why? You got one up your sleeve?"

Him : "Yes!"

Me:     

Oh the goooood man!

THE BOOKSTORE

We pull up in front of the store and I immediately fall in love. It is everything I wanted. Eclectic, sells used books, has cool furniture, an indie feel and fits in perfect with the other imaginary bookstore I created inside my garage. The owner, much like myself, is a DIY renaissance woman with a warm heart, creative mind and strong hand shake. I immediately like her.

Below: the first shot we do is of the entrance of the store.

THE MESSAGE

They say God works in mysterious ways... NO KIDDING! I walk into the store and find that he has left me a cryptic message there, waiting for me.  There is a table with a few craft items for sale. An artist has taken the time to take car license plates, cut them up and make words with them, mounted on wood panels. There are currently three panels for sale, basically three words, out of a bezillion words to pick from in the dictionary. He also made single digits. There are only three left.

I walk up to the table and immediately see the word FAITH right in front of me. My eyes then catch the two single digits laying near my name....  They make out the number...

32 ?????????????????

Yes. There is a FAITH 32 staring at me on that table and I feel the hair on my arm standing up. WHAT THE HECK??? What are the chances?? Robert and Jerry flock to see the "strange coincidence"

"NO way this is coincidence Faith. You were supposed to be here."

As I stare at the FAITH 32, I can't help but feel it is a message left for me but I wonder what it means... Now if only God left a little translation there for me too ... I felt both moved and a little wierded out, all at the same time. So I bought the signs and they are now in my studio, as a reminder that He is helping me, somehow wanting to see this film done, whatever His reasons... They must be good ones...

below: The force with you, strong is....

12:30PM - I "stumble" upon a cool shot to show the girl arriving at the store. As always, taking advantage of reflections and visually playing with them... I am worried about the shoot. I have been limping pathetically for two weeks now, and cannot walk for more than a few feet at a time without feeling bad pain. And now I will have to walk, WITHOUT limping, and to top that, on HIGH HEELS. And look like I am enjoying it . Agh...

"I'll be just fine"

I climb into my World War II original Baby Doll Black Suede pumps and we roll. Surprisingly, I am able to walk as if nothing ever happened. Anything for the film. Thank God Robert nails the shot in a few takes so I can sit back down in my director's chair. The boys are doing all the work today. I feel like a useless Jewish Princess. Except I'm not Jewish.. And no Princess either .

1PM - Extras arrive. I am using Robert's wife and daughter as well as a couple of her friends, who all live there. Making it easier for the shoot and logistics involved since we are a good 2.5 hours from LA. While the boys move the gear back to the inside of the store, I am scouting the layout and figuring out my next shot...

LIGHT BULB!

"Ok guys, I see a great shot here. If only I had a dolly, with really looooong tracks... Or a steady cam for that matter"

But I got shit. Cause I am just a poor indie filmmaker on a ZERO (as in NADA , NULL, RIEN de RIEN) budget.

"Something with wheels... In fact, ANYTHING with wheels would work..."

TESS (store owner): "Well, there is  a supermarket a few doors down..."

Say no more: Jerry is already on his way to "borrow" a shopping cart.  Today I am going to turn into the "shopping cart bag lady" complete, with limp. It'll give me a taste of what it's going to be like, when I can no longer pay my rent cause I spent what little I didn't have on this crazy idea of making a hotrod period film on my own.

To pull off the shot, I will have to figure out a way to mount the camera on the cart, including the monitor, to get it at the right height and to travel across the store with it, smoothly, perfectly framed, in focus and end perfectly framed and focussed on a display showing Bettie's new book signing (conveniently) hehehehe.

Piece of cake.

ROLLING!

3PM - I am walking in my baby dolls across the store. Without limping. Robert is pulling focus while Jerry is pushing the cart. I have set up extras along the way and each of them must perform a specific timed task when we call out their names. One picks up a book from a high shelve, two more walk by the camera, crossing path with me... Everything has to be perfectly orchestrated with the camera travel, for it to work... The move is beautiful, producing a massive amount of parallax in the foreground... A gorgeous shot in deed. Done with a shopping cart and one apple crate and a couple sand bags... And a lot of ingeniosity on my part.

GOT IT! We nail the shot within a mere 4 takes ... And it looks smoooooth as a baby's butt.

We are now left with only a couple more easy shots to do... We also nail them in just a few takes...

IT'S A WRAP!!

Looking back, I think this was one of my easiest, most enjoyable, most relaxing shoots ever. We even had time to SIT DOWN to EAT lunch!!!!!!!!

Slap me, I must be dreaming.

Needless to say, my knee did NOT agree with this statement and was litterally KILLING ME for hours after the shoot. ... It's OK though, it was well worth it.

Tess, the location owner was so supportive and understanding of our needs, allowing us to move things around freely to set up each shot, and helping us in any way she could. WE LOVE YOU TESS! I am truly blessed with the wonderful people I worked with today and I am grateful...

Showing once again that:

Below: Scoping the shot and making it happen, once again, making lemonade out of rocks.

Below: And I even had time to play a song on the store's guitar??? Wish I lived near that store, I'd be hanging out there constantly. Way cool!